worried ALL the time? | ADHD Information

Seeker,

what a wonderful way to explain it. That is exactly what I meant by my previous post, besides the additional daydreaming of horrible accidents.

Do you guys think that only us ADD/Adhder experience this, or do other people who don't have some sort of mental disorder (the so-called "normal" people) do this too?

there is a whole thread somewhere about monologuing, or intenal dialogue. ( i have forgotten the exact title).

i get that worrying thing, but it is in the form of playing out conflicts in my mind over issues that may or may not be things i really have to deal with.

i get stuck in this mental struggle with some conflict i am having, and play out arguments in my head.

it happens more when i'm a little depressed feeling, or stressed.

when i finally get the opportunity to discuss the issue with whomever is the other side of it, it is never as dramatic as portrayed in my mind.

in fact, it is almost as if the playacting i did in my brain has helped me find a way to circumvent a lot of the tension, making me calmer when the confrontation actually transpires.

the down side is the time wasted being wrapped up in the negative thoughts. so much energy and focus are lost as i live in my brain and the day drains away.

so many times, people have thought i was mad at them, when i was just caught up in my alternate reality, barely present in the present at all.

i don't know. that's why i post these things here.

i am hoping to find a consensus amongst add'ers that this is add, or wisdom explaining the source of it.

a friend once told me 'you're so mental!' it's starting to dawn on me what she meant!

btw- how did you choose your avatar?

i chose the lighning storm b/c that's what my brain feels like most of the time- big random flashes that light, then disappear, thoughts that leave me stunned, or with hair standing on end, and a little hazy in the aftermath...

I must confess, mine wasn't so ingenious - I thought it was pretty, I don't have a picture of my dog on this computer and it looks suspiciously like a "floater" that I see in my right eye's vision. There's another dr I haven't seen in years!!!

valzap- do you get migraines? i do, and have had visual disturbances like that because of them.

one day, i kept trying to brush the hair out of my eye because of a sensation i had that their was a lock of hair that kept falling into the corner of it. i could even see it, except i had just had a haircut, and my hair was far too short to get that close. i was getting reallly irritated that i could not get rid of this thing in my eye.

within a few hours i had a headache so intense, i had to lie down and plug my ears, and put my pillow over my eyes to keep out the light because it literally caused pain just to see it thru my eyelids.

Seeker63,

About 4 years ago I was driving down the highway after a "playdate" for my puppy and I noticed I couldn't see clearly. Thought it was because it was bright out and I hadn't worn the sunglasses. Over the next 15 minutes I realized that things were completely disappearing from my vision. It was as if you wrote on a black board and someone erased the whole left side of whatever you wrote.

I thought I was going blind. I went to the eye dr immediately and got all these tests. He told me I was most likely experiencing a migraine. I thought this was impossible because I never got the head pain.

Now, I still think I see things out of the corner of my eye - like something crawling on the wall or a fly or sometimes lightning flashes. I may get a dull ache in my head, but mostly it's extreme tightness in my neck and nausea. That's usually as far as it goes.

But, this little floater is always there. It's very clear on a bright day if I'm looking at solid objects, or when I'm looking out the airplane window into the clouds.

Anni wrote

know I worry about things - sometimes I imagine them happening and cry about it even. I have a pretty vivid imagination - sometimes that's good though.

I think you and I are the same person - didn't we relate on the same issue about talking out loud?!

I do this same thing. I can worry about bad things or good things, imagine or daydream or fantasize - all about postive or negative issues. I sometimes will have a very vivid imagination of either my parents getting into a fatal car accident or my husband has a fatal car accident (god forbid with either of them) . I imagine this to the point that I am actually depressed for a little bit or cry about it too.

On the other hand, I can go the opposite extreme and vividly imagine what will happen if my stock ever goes up or if I can get my memoirs published or go on Oprah etc.

The more I read about this disorder the more I think ADD isn't my only problem.

welcome angels!

Yup - I worry a lot. I think it has at least a bit to do with ADHD, combined with parents who were always filling my head with neurotic stuff. Put that stuff on a constant loop in my ADHD head - and watch out! So I have times where I am not even in the world - just swirling in my head with "what if this" and "what if that" things. You try and avoid it and it just gets worse.

The time where it got to be too much was in my last relationship. As "stepdad" to 3 young girls I found myself spouting out my parents paranoid, neurotic worry statements. "you're going to poke your eye out". "don't run in the house - you'll break your neck". I was baffled - it was like channeling my folks who weren't even dead yet! I laugh now but it was a big contention between my exgf and me.

I think we don't get the worried thoughts just because of ADHD - but the ADHD makes it worse. Kind of like that BASF commercial in reverse - you know - "we don't make the products you use - we make them BETTER"? LOL

- Glen

hey everyone, i'm new to this site. i've been newly diagnosed with adhd and am still trying to understand everything about it. one thing that really bothers me is that i worry a lot. like i'll worry about and issue for days, weeks, even months sometimes! it's stuff that probably won't even happen to me, but i just HAVE to think about it. I'm thinking that these thoughts are b/c i need to be stimulated all the time because i think about happy stuff too. does anyone else have reoccuring random negative thoughts?

I've sometimes wondered if their was anything but neg...

Welcome to the board!

I think that people with ADD and ADHD have a mind that is always going. So you worry more than the average person.

I know I worry about things - sometimes I imagine them happening and cry about it even. I have a pretty vivid imagination - sometimes that's good though.

Guess it depends on the day - Sometimes the world is the most wornderful place to live and people have more fun than anybody - Then on other days - AWFUL thoughts
So - yes, guess so.

[QUOTE=angels984]hey everyone, i'm new to this site. i've been newly diagnosed with adhd and am still trying to understand everything about it. one thing that really bothers me is that i worry a lot. like i'll worry about and issue for days, weeks, even months sometimes! it's stuff that probably won't even happen to me, but i just HAVE to think about it. I'm thinking that these thoughts are b/c i need to be stimulated all the time because i think about happy stuff too. does anyone else have reoccuring random negative thoughts?[/QUOTE]

Hi Angels,

To begin with, may I be civil and welcome you to this forum. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, may I be truthful and tell ya the truth?

I worry about whether you'll get mad at me, I'll worry if others will get mad at me, and I worry how best to use material I find scattered about, while protecting my own sanity. Not being a doctor, though, I'm curious a/b what it is you issue " i'll worry about and issue for days ". Do you have the physcial resources to keep that up soooo long? Now, I promise, I won't go on to the next opportunity until you promise me you won't leave. It'll take a little getting used to, but I think mostly hillarious thoughts.

Chill, Chin up and Cheerios,

Davidonaclov

hi angels, i worry all the time so much that i have severe anxiety depression.....i am in therapy along with meds for that and my adhd, and panic attacks...yeprs i worry so much i got panic attacks 5-10 times a day or more till they prescribed meds for me....i dont no if u get them and i do not wish them on anyone....but through therapy i am learning that u cant/shouldnt worry over things you cant control...yeah easier said than done right? that is why i still have that problem...if it continues or gets worse i would go to your dr b4 it gets outta hand...i started out like u and right now i am at the bottom of a black hole with the only flicker of light being my adhd meds are beginning to work since they upped then....

i dont know if u have ever been diagnosed for any form of depression....but when that flairs up it makes the adhd worse and vise a versa...

best of luck and welcome to the board...we are all here if u need us....

if u need to pm me with some things that is helping me go right ahead i am here for you..

Because I've really tired right now (have been VERY sick lately, so it's not unusual), I'll give you a "Cliff Notes" answer. It's something I've trained myself to start doing (and a case of practice makes perfect).

Once you become aware that you're worrying about something, immediately start thinking about what you can do to make sure that thing doesn't happen. For example, I live in an RV with 6 cats. After going through a minor hurricane a few years back, I started worrying how I could get me and all the animals in my car to evacuate if necessary. Watching Katrina and Rita just exacerbated that worry. My solution was to get a mini van. But I couldn't afford one.

This past Wed., I drove home in a new (2002 but only 22K miles) mini van. If you focus more on the solution than the problem, your energy changes to the "right" direction.

It's a matter of 1) learning to become conscious that you are, indeed, worrying about something and then 2) changing focus to the solution to that worry rather than continuing to obsess on the worry.

(Hum, not quite as "Cliff Notes" as I'd thought!)

[QUOTE=sachetm]

This past Wed., I drove home in a new (2002 but only 22K miles) mini van. If you focus more on the solution than the problem, your energy changes to the "right" direction.

It's a matter of 1) learning to become conscious that you are, indeed, worrying about something and then 2) changing focus to the solution to that worry rather than continuing to obsess on the worry.

(Hum, not quite as "Cliff Notes" as I'd thought!)

[/QUOTE]

good ideas...keep em coming and i hope u start feeling better soon

valzap - you should get an appointment with a specialist on your vision problems and pain! It could be as simple as a problem with your eyes that wasn't properly diagnosed, or perhaps a blood flow issue in the brain. Micro-strokes happen at all ages - and sound scarily like what you describe. The brain doesn't always have a major stroke - you could have little popped vessels - and I know they have treatments if it is!

This goes towards the worry-wart in me. I'm very concerned about you - my ADHD friend. I can get neurotic and project my own worries on you - and see the potential worst-case things that it could be. Probably not - but worry I do!

Do check further though - pain is never normal - and head pain of your type doesn't sound very spiffy.

As to those "floaters" - if your eye doc hadn't seen you I'd have thought you might actually have thoses - there are pieces of tissue that can actually float around in the eye fluid. My mother has those - and she says if it gets shook up it's like a snow globe - she'll see little white things all over her line of sight - and the corners too.

[/QUOTE]

all the time

.. i could be at the movies enjoying a great scene and then whoosh - it starts again... i've always been like this...
i think much of it is the way that i have been raised - "if your father dies, its your fault" - when your 5, it really sticks in the brain!!!
i too need constant stimulation..
we could be twins angels - the wonder twins!!!

Thanks Glenw for your concern. Someone else Pm'd too about the possibility of little strokes. Now I wonder if I should be worried too. I tend to take myself for granted and not do anything, though I would get mad at anybody else for not seeing a dr. I'm a big hypocrite.

Where to start first though? should I see an eye dr or a neuro first? I'm afraid of being laughed at again because they look at me like I'm too young or something to get these things.

That's another reason why I don't want to take the Strattera since I get blurry vision - I don't want the meds to mess up anything else y'know?

If I only had a backbone.

I worry almost constantly!